Week 36

Dear TK Parents and Friends,

This week we are learning the following:

• Mary Our Mother
• Forms of Prayer
• All sight words
• Addition to 10
• Subtraction to 5
• Alphabet recognition and sounds
• Reviewing beginning sounds
• Ocean creatures

We are doing a lot of reviewing this week as we wind down the school year.  Please continue to review all letters, counting/number recognition, and sight words.

The play, The 3 Piggy Opera has changed its location.  We will now be doing the play in the Hall.  We are still planning to begin at 10:45 am.  Please e-mail me with an expected number of people planning to attend your child's play.  I want to be sure to request enough chairs to be set up.  Please e-mail me this week with a count for your family.  The play is excepted to last about 30 minutes.

Field Day is this Friday, 5/27.  Please e-mail me if you would like to volunteer to help with the TK class.

No School Monday, 5/30 - Memorial Day

Inside the Outdoors on campus experience - Thursday, June 2.

TK/K End of the Year Picnic (on campus) - Friday, June 3 at 9am.  I will need volunteers.  If interested, please e-mail me.

TK Play - The 3 Piggy Opera - Thursday, June 9 at 10:45am in the Hall.

Last Day of School - Friday, June 10.

Hang on to your hats!  It's going by so fast!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Paragas

Week 35

Dear TK Parents and Friends,

I can't believe how fast this month is going!  I feel like I just changed the calendar to May and now we are here in the third week.  I am embracing every moment I have with your child as these days are going to go by even faster!

This week we are learning the following:

• Religion: Mother Mary, The Hail Mary and prayer review of the past prayers
• Math: counting to 30, counting by 10s to 100, addition to 10
• Literacy:  All 20 sight words (this will be on going), All the letters and sounds, The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Science: Life Cycle of the Butterfly and reviewing plants
• Social Studies: Songs of Patriotism - National Anthem

We are constantly learning new songs that help us learn the core concepts.  Your children love to sing and my hopes is that they are sharing their songs with you such as "The Butterfly Song", "Gentle Woman", and of course, "The Three Piggy Opera".

The 5th graders came to visit our classroom to share their Stewardship Project with us.  They are partnering with Mater Dei with a program called Get on the Bus.  Get on the Bus is a program that provides transportation and support for children and their caregivers to visit their mothers and fathers in prison.  Children are provided a travel bag with various items, snacks, and materials to make their parent a card and to help stay in contact with their parent.  They have asked TK and K to bring coloring books and crayons for children under 9.  I hope everyone can contribute a little something to support these children who may be going through a difficult time.

Today, HOPE bags were sent home.  A couple kids left before I could hand out the HOPE bags.  Even if you did not take home your red HOPE bags, you are still welcome to participate by bringing nonperishable food donations.  Every little bit counts! :)

Thank you for keeping a quiet learning environment for Kindergarten during our 11:30 dismissal.  I appreciate your cooperation!

The 3 Piggy Opera Costumes:
Please look below to see what your child is to wear the day of the play --
Storytellers - Wear nice non-uniform clothes
Mommy Pig - Wear a blouse with dark pants (I have an apron for you to use)
Daddy Pig - Wear a polo with pants (I have a mustache for you to borrow)
3 Pigs, Straw House, Stick House, Brick House - Wear a t-shirt (any kind) with jeans (pants).  (I have t-shirts for you to borrow to put over your clothes)
Straw, Stick, and Brick Peddler - Wear non-uniform clothes (must be pants on the bottom)

*Please have your child wear his/her school shoes.
If you have questions, please ask me.

Thank you!

Mrs. Paragas

Summer Childcare

Dear Parents,

If you know of a reliable childcare provider for the summer months, please let me know.  I know of families looking for someone they could trust their children with during the months that we are out of school.  Send me an e-mail with some information.

Thank you!
Mrs. Paragas

Week 34

Dear TK Parents and Friends,

This week in TK we are learning the following:

• Mother Mary
• All Prayers
• Sight Words: All 20 words
• Writing to 10 
• Counting to 30
• Adding to 5 (or 10)
• All letters - review of all letters (writing, sounds, recognition)
• Seeds and Plants
• Vocabulary: germination, pollination, seedling, soil
• Identify the 5 needs of a plant
• The Three Piggy Opera - memorizing the songs and how to "act" out the play

There are about 5 weeks of school left.  I will be doing a lot of follow up assessments between now and the end of the year.  

Some of the children are struggling with the concept of how many are in all when we are using 2 different object to add.  For example 2 red cubes + 3 blue cubes; how many are in all?  Some of the kids are counting the same color only rather than the red and blue.  I will continue to practice this skill with them until the end of the year.  For those students that are comfortable with this concept will move on to adding to 10 and subtraction.

I had a proud teacher moment this morning when the children and I were talking.  I asked the question, "how many of you can now read?"  Every hand in the class were up in the air.  I reminded them that at the beginning of the year, only one or two hands went up.  Now that we are close to the end, ALL kids raised their hand.  Thank you so much for working hard with all your children!

I can't believe how fast the year is going.  I am enjoying every moment of this year! 

Thank you so much for all you do!

Mrs. Paragas

Dismissal Reminder

Dear TK Parents,

This is a friendly reminder that during dismissal, the children still need to follow classroom and school rules.  I have noticed that as the kids are dismissed, some of the children are running around and making noise around the gated area.  The rule in TK is no running on the black top.  Please keep in mind that both Kindergarten classes are still in session.  Let's remember to be respectful of their learning environment and keep the TK/K courtyard as quiet as possible.

Thank you for your cooperation,
Mrs. Paragas

Week 33

Dear TK Parents and Friends,

This week we are learning the following:

• Mother Mary
• Prayer: Hail Mary - students will be tested in 2 weeks
• Frogs and amphibians
• Vocabulary: habitat, croak, poison, gills
• Life Cycle of Frogs
• Sight Word: Have (please review all previous words) 
• Addition to 5 and Addition to 10 - this will be ongoing until the end of the year
• Count to 30
• Letter Zz

I hope you received an email from the school regarding the school newsletter.  Mrs. Hayden's School Newsletter will now be available via Sycamore. I know that Sycamore can be overlooked by TK parents since you don't need to log on as often to record FISH hours or to check grades.  I do request that you check your Sycamore accounts regularly so don't miss out on any announcements. 

I sent home your child's parts for the class play, The Three Piggy Opera.  Every student has an important part in the class play.  If your child has speaking part, please practice their lines/songs.  All students will have a group singing part.  If your child only has a group singing part, I did not send home the lyrics to practice as we practice regularly in class.  

If you would like to schedule a conference with me, please send me an email.  Next week, K-8 will have portfolio conferences which TK will not participate in.  However, I am willing to meet with parents if you have any concerns.  I have notified you if I feel we need to discuss your child's progress.  

Next week we will review all letters, matching upper and lower case, and sounds; but our focus will be more on sight words and reading.  Please review your child's sight words.  There are 20 basic TK sight words I'd like all my students to master before Kindergarten.  If your child can read the 20 basic TK words without little to no trouble, here is a list of Dolch sight words to practice.

Here is a PDF of the TK Must Know Words.

Dolch Sight Words:  Pre-primer, then move to Primer and so forth.

The year is going super fast! Let's enjoy these last few weeks! :)

Thanks again for all you do!

Mrs. Paragas

Portfolio Conferences

Dear Parents,

As you may or may not have noticed, TK has been blocked off for the Portfolio Conferences when you log on to your Sycamore account.  TK will not have Portfolio Conferences.  Portfolio Conferences are student led and are based on the School's SLEs.  TK has been introduced but will require more time to understand how to connect the SLEs to their own work.  At the end of the two years of Kindergarten (TK to K), students will have their first Portfolio Conference.

The following are the School-wide Learning Expectations (SLEs) for grades TK-2.

A Faith-filled Active Catholic Who

• Prays.

• Attends Mass respectfully.

• Shows respect for others and the world God created.

• Participates in service to those in need.

A Critical Thinker Who

• Listens to the teacher.

• Works to his/her potential.

• Expresses oneself through music, art, and literature.

• Completes work neatly.

• Solves problems effectively.

An Effective Communicator Who

• Listens attentively to others.

• Shares ideas and information.

• Writes and speaks using correct grammar/vocabulary.

• Articulates and projects clearly.

• Communicates using technology.

A Globally Aware Citizen Who

• Learns about new and different cultures.

• Shows respect for people of different cultures.

• Shows awareness of current events.

• Shares God-given talents.

A Life-long Learner Who

• Makes good choices.

• Uses self-control.

• Works and plays well with others.

I will personally contact you if I feel a conference is needed to discuss your child's progress. However, if you would like to schedule a conference, please e-mail me so we can plan one.

Thank you,
Mrs. Paragas